Kathryn's job was to teach English to kids who were just learning to others who could write English words beautifully. She gathered 250 illustrated cards which she presented the last day of our trip to Russia on a river ship in St. Petersburg. The irony is that we never really knew if we'd actually hook up because so many things/people in Russia are not reliable. She warned me, "Plans change. Often." Yes, I was absolutely thrilled and relieved when we actually greeted each other the last day of our stay in Russia. Dorothy and I had completed our 1000 mile journey on the Volga for this exchange.
We talked and talked for two hours. We asked about the Russian culture, and I shared my perceptions and new appreciation for a beautiful people and culture. We talked about infrastructures that are in disrepair, about the present government, some history and the Russian Orthodox Church. I told her of my amazement at the immense restoration of palaces, churches,and government buildings since the break up of the Soviet Union. I learned that not all is roses. Starvation is the main cause of death. Smoking and drinking are huge problems. And more.
I presented 12 butterfly quilt squares made by Carol Vanlue, the quilt artist of the traveling quilt. She graciously accepted them for future peace building. She heads a school and in the Fall when regular school begins again, the teachers and kids will have a creative opportunity for piecing peace. A new peace quilt? Those butterflies keep "fluttering."
I learned more about the background behind the Russian summer camps. Traditionally, all kids attend from the poorest on vouchers beyond. There has to be a place for the kids because Russians take 6-week breaks from work just as a matter of course. Even orphanages shut down and kids are shuttled off to camps.
I learned that there were some orphans in the camps where Kathryn taught. She explained that orphanages are differently configured in Russia. Often children who live there have parents who are not dead, but are alcoholics. Some camps were filled with tough and unruly kids, hard to control. Some were in the city; some were way out in the "boonies."
Two older kids(16 or 17) approached Kathryn at one "camp from hell" and threatened her with harm. They said that they were from the Russian Mafia. She quickly responded unruffled. "No problem. I'm the U.S. Mafia." Bewildered, they paused. Later they became her friends, her protectors.
Other Russian workers at a camp of over 200 kids tried to help her to know how to control the rowdies. They suggested that she yell to get control because that was what the children were used to. Kathryn refused. The helpers produced a mic, thinking that she needed more help with her voice. They didn't understand that she didn't believe in public humiliation and loud confrontations, a common cultural rebuking technique.
In the midst of all the camps, Kathryn fell in love with these children and will miss them. She saw what was in their hearts and taught them how to work together.
Some of the children could only write a bit of English and others outdid our U.S. kids in artistic writing and imagery. Traditionally, artistic expression is encouraged in every Russian. The care they took with the cards was beautiful to behold. I am finding familiar themes of children are ringing loud and clear, no matter what country or city or school. All kids everywhere want clean air, protected animals and environments, no pollution, friendship and respect, happiness, and healthy families and good homes. Over and over, the Russian children wanted our countries to be friends.
Kathryn shared a story about one card that I can't forget. It was drawn by a 15-year-old girl without an arm. Society shuns the handicapped, the homeless, the misfits, the elderly on pensions. Tourists don't see them...on purpose. The card portrays a tiny girl with two arms holding her parents' hands. Her vision...happy families in a beautiful world. Lots of flowers and hearts. (See above.)
Kathryn knew that the postcards wouldn't make it out of the country because of postal corruption. Thus, I accepted the precious illustrated dreams from kids from 8-18. Somehow I'll get them mailed to Ms. Winfrey who doesn't realize how lucky she is. (By the way, they didn't know who Oprah was, but because United States kids created visions, they drew and wrote. They told Kathryn that they wished they could talk peace with the U.S. children.)
So what about the rest of my trip? A few blips from my mind: Red Square and the Kremlin were huge complexes filled with onion-domed churches with bright red and yellow buildings, simply grand architecture. The seven birthday-cake buildings of Moscow included Moscow University, an imposing structure. I've not seen so much gold, amber, or art masterpieces in palaces, churches and museums in such a short span of time. (Yes, I've been to Versailles and the Louvre.) Russian food is darn good. I make lousy blinis. The hinterland towns on the Volga are charming...and old. Russian cars cost $3000. "The Volga Boatman Song" sounds really good in a church in a community over 1000 years old. Dachas are little summer places, escapes for 25 per cent of the Russians. Far from fancy...no plumbing, a bit of land to grow pickling veggies. (I have named my own backyard retreat "dacha.") Rasputin was crazy and gifted and hard to murder. I saw the resting places of the last Romanov Tsar and family. I'd read 6 books about them to prepare for the trip. The Hermitage, Catherine the Great's winter palace, in St. Petersburg and St. Basil the Blessed in Moscow's Red Square were particularly fascinating to me. Lenin was in his tomb; I saw him. Stalin was under the grave marker. I was glad. The Moscow Circus truly had dancing bears...made me sad. Russka is a great book to read while riding on the Volga. Ivan the Terrible and Stalin were hideous fiends, AND Russian history is particularly violent and dark. It infects and affects the present day... even if the country has changed dramatically for the better since the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Do countries have a DNA? Autocratic Putin is the real leader even though he's only the Prime Minister. I saw former President Yeltsin's grave...looked like a big liver. Saw Checkoff's and Khruschev's monuments too. Russian music lectures aboard ship excited me... Rachmaninoff and Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky. Russia supplies most of Europe's oil. There are lots of rich, rich Russians. MacDonald's has a store in Red Square along with the famous ritzy GUM department store. Young Russian women dress like Parisians but they sometimes only have two outfits, one to wash in the tub on the week ends. Russians make a lot of jokes about the KGB. Vodka is not what it's cracked up to be. Who knew you drink it with a pickle? Russians think Americans smile all the time and wear comfortable shoes. We think Russians don't smile. WW2 Russian Veterans wear lots of clinking medals...lots. Russians are animal lovers. Watching Swan Lake ballet sitting in Catherine the Great's actual seat was a high point and a hot one too. Fanning myself with a small business card in over 100 degrees will not be forgotten. I'll remember the expressions on the orchestra members' sweaty faces and their hollow eyes, the glow on the ballerinas' brows, and the fat man's comment at intermission. "I can't wait until this is over."
The Volga freezes over in the winter but the weather this July was the hottest on record. I got home right before the horrid fires started. They are out of control. The news that 500,000 acres+ have burned and Moscovites are dying makes me sick. Pollution is the killer and the government officials were not prepared. What I learned about the infrastructure's instability has been harshly demonstrated.
Now I'm wondering about the safety of those precious vision makers?
